Boso of Provence

Boso of Provence (841-1 November 887) was King of Provence from 879 to 887, succeeding Louis the Stammerer and preceding Louis the Blind.

Biography
Boso was born in 841, son of Bivin of Gorze and Richildis of Arles, and he was from the Bouvinid dynasty. In 869, he succeeded his uncle Hucbert as the abbot of St. Maurice's Abbey, and Charles the Bald's marriage of his sister Richilde in 870 led to Boso having close relations to the House of Karling, which ruled West Francia. Boso received the County of Lyon and County of Vienne, and in 872 he became the chamberlain to Charles' heir Louis the Stammerer. In 875, he accompanied Charles on his Italian campaign, and he was made palace inspector of Italy at the imperial diet in Pavia in February 876. When Charles died in 877, Boso and other nobles forced his son to guarantee their privileges, and Boso was adopted as the son of Pope John VIII, as he had close relations with the papacy. On Louis' death in April 879, Boso advocated Louis III of France as the new king of West Francia, but Boso declared independence in July after both Louis and his brother Carloman of France became co-rulers. He became the first non-Carolingian king in Western Europe in more than a century, but in March 880 Louis and Carloman marched against Boso. From August to November, he was besieged in Vienne after the fall of Macon, and in August 882 his brother Richard of Burgundy besieged him in Vienne again. In September the city fell, and Boso was restricted to the county of Vienne until his death in 887.